


Leopard Spots.

by Ultra_chrome



Category: For Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down (1996)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-04-25
Updated: 2007-04-25
Packaged: 2017-11-24 08:54:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultra_chrome/pseuds/Ultra_chrome
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s nothing more lonesome than being the only person that knows who you really are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leopard Spots.

**Author's Note:**

> Jerry makes me so sad. The prompt "Lonesome" made me think of him.

There’s nothing more lonesome than being the only person that knows who you really are. People think they have all the facts. They hear things or they see things and they think that’s all there is to it. They never look for more than what they see on the surface. They never hear the whole story. They never know how hard you try to be something that they don’t believe you can be.

You can’t blame them for that. Hell, maybe they feel the same way; trapped in the idea that others have of them.

People keep saying a leopard can’t change its spots. That’s not the whole truth of it.

There are times you get caught up in things you can’t stop. Maybe it’s a minute, maybe a whole life, but it just keeps on moving, dragging you right along with it and you can’t escape it. Even if you try it only leads to something else you can’t get out of.

Eventually you have to pay for your mistakes. The more you try to cover them up, the more mistakes you make until you have a wall of mistakes blocking you from going anywhere. That wall builds up between you and the people you love, who once loved you. It never comes down, no matter how hard you try. Best you can do is keep it at your back and face what’s coming.

Sometimes what you think is the worst thing that could happen is actually the best. Your mistakes catch up with you and you pay for them, you get a chance to get off the ride and take a look at who you could be if you weren’t reacting to the things you set in motion.

It doesn’t make much difference to the rest of the world. They don’t want to see the person you could be, the person you’re trying to be. They still treat you like you’ve got the same spots you learned to have so you could survive. They put you in positions where you have no choices.

You can pay for your mistakes, but the debt is never cleared. People don’t forgive what they can’t forget and they don’t look for reasons, unless it’s a way to excuse themselves.

A leopard can change its spots all it likes, but people remember what it looked like. They’re still afraid of it and they paint those spots right back on it because it’s easier for them see it how it used to be.

Eventually, the spots don’t wash right off anymore and the leopard doesn’t fit anywhere. It can’t be with the other leopards because they know it doesn’t want to be like them, but it can’t be anywhere else either.

So it learns to keep to itself and watch its back, stay safe until the time comes to meet the hunter face to face.  



End file.
